


In Her Sights

by MumSnake



Series: Child of Scarlet Flame and Blacken Void [4]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Gen, Other, Post Dream No More Ending, and Post Grimm Troupe Ritual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-06-10 05:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15285114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MumSnake/pseuds/MumSnake
Summary: She truly thrived from the screams and the chanting and the chaos of it all, nothing in this world seemed to compare for the God Tamer to the glory of victory before an audience who cried out to her every move. She lived for the Colosseum and the fights and the death.And truly, she finally found someone worthy of the Colosseum's arena.





	In Her Sights

**Author's Note:**

> This got a little away from me, but I like where it ended up going.
> 
> This is taking place after Discoveries of all Kinds in the Child of Scarlet Flame and Blacken Void series.  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/14407608/chapters/33273141
> 
> (Its not necessary to read Discoveries though.)

A thunderous applause shook the entirety of the Colosseum of Fools, excessively loud hollering and screams filled the air as an uncountable number of legs stomped against the Colosseum floors in excitement. The God Tamer stood victorious over the broken remains of her opponent, her fist rose up to the air and urged another cheer from the crowd, her lance bloody but still pristine was perched atop of the head of her discarded foe. The God Tamer removed her weapon from its temporary pedestal with a hard jerk and made to walk around the arena, the bugs within the crowd chanted her name with each step she took, louder and louder with vicious pride and love.

She truly thrived from the screams and the chanting and the chaos of it all, nothing in this world seemed to compare for the God Tamer to the glory of victory before an audience who cried out to her every move. She lived for the Colosseum and the fights and the death.

“Possibly the greatest fool of them all.”

The Child looked up from where they were peering down at the arena. Quirrel stood protectively near them, although the two of them were in one of the further stands, away from the killing and from most of the other bugs as most tried to get as close as possible to the arena. The Child did not fail to notice the deep frown on Quirrel's face however, or the tension he carried as he kept a firm hand on the old nail he rarely carried.

The Child reached up with a clawed hand to grasp onto their Guardian's arm. Quirrel glanced down at them for a second with a thin smile, before quickly turning back to watch the arena. His made that mournful face he usually made when he started to remember bad things from his past. The Child grasped on them harder this time and pulled with more force, they didn't like it when Quirrel made that face. Their Guardian hardly seemed bothered by their actions however, leaving the Child to huffed out in annoyance.

They really shouldn't of come here with Quirrel, but...

“She's leaving.” Quirrel spoke quietly as he watched the God Tamer march out of the arena with the cheers of the audience following her every move. The grip on his nail tighten for just a moment before he finally released it and held it out for the Child to hold. “We better hurry to catch her.”

The Child reached out and gave Quirrel's hand a gentle tug before leading the way to the God Tamer's Quarters. They didn't want Quirrel to linger any more within the Colosseum then he had to, knew that the older bug had an acute distaste for the raw and mindless fighting that the Colosseum of Fools promoted, but the Child themselves quite enjoyed it.

Not necessary the mindless fighting part, but the display of it all.

As if this was all some kind of performance.

Not all of the bugs who participated in the arena went along with the performance of course as they just fought for the sake of fighting or killing, but the Child had seen those who did put up a show and found themselves completely transfixed by those bugs.

There was a mantis who frequented the arena rather often and every time he entered the battle stained ground, the crowd quieted with deathly pause and baited breathe. Wielding a brilliant halberd infused with the rich crystals of the Upper Crystal Mines, he always carried himself with a sense of pride and grace even as he fought against the largest and quickest of foes. The mantis wove between attacks and blows with a pair of slender wings on the ground and in the air, only striking when needed, never excessively. Body and limbs fluid and stiff whenever necessary, his performance a beautiful dance and always warranted an applause.

There was a pill bug of all things who came every once in a while. She ponced into the arena with wit and skill, drawing the attention from everyone around her. The pill bug was a rather small thing too, so most of her opponents seemed to never be ready for her spider threaded whip. And she would edge them on too; make them angry, spur their unstable emotions and she would work with the mood the crowd, calling to them for suggestions, and even volunteers on one such occasion the Child remembers witnessing. She made a mockery of her opponents, and the crowd was always ready to see her act, always smiling when she performed, and always standing for an ovation.

And then there was the God Tamer.

Within the Colosseum of Fools and possibly even some sectors of the Capitol, the God Tamer's presence demanded respect and authority when she stepped onto the arena. She was as fierce and cruel as her lance was sharp and precise. She led her battles in a dance to the death with her heart bare to her opponent and the crowd to see with how little armor she wore, but that hardly mattered as she was nimble and cunning. She always looked to set the tempo of her battles, she judged as she fought and showed everyone her decisions by how fast she killed.

When the Child was able to watch her perform, he was reminded of a lead moving throughout the stage with complete control of the other acts and the audience at the palm of her hand. When she wanted the room to quiet, not a noise was made. When she wanted them to scream, to cheer, they shouted with astonishing vigor.

When she set her sights on her enemy and determined that they would die, everyone within the room believed her without question.

The Child was at awe at the power of her performance. They couldn't help but also be amazed, to an extent.

But when they usually came to the Colosseum, Quirrel never came along because of his disdain of the barbarism that tended to fester with all the killing.

Now was different however, as Quirrel profusely refused to allow the Child to go anywhere alone after the incident at the Lake of Unn.

“She will be willing to see us, yes?” Quirrel questioned the Child as they led him down past the healing springs and through a rather empty hallway tucked away and out of sight. The Child gave a sturdy nod as they went to stand in front of the last door, relatively simple despite being the holdings of the Colosseum's Champion.

The Child knocked on the door twice and stood back to wait for admittance. Quirrel couldn't help the found smile that appeared on his face at the action, he remembers spending the better half of a day teaching the Child the appropriate manners to that, when the door opened and revealed the God Tamer herself and his distasteful frown came back. The God Tamer in return spared Quirrel a similar glare before turning to see the Child.

“Ah, its you.” She spoke with a quieted voice, a small strain even from shouting earlier in the arena. Quirrel also did not fail to notice how relaxed she became when she saw the Child as her face soften and her form became more opened when she opened her door more to allow the two of them in.

The Child led Quirrel past the God Tamer, not without Quirrel seeing her passing glare though, and into a rather spacious room. A round and large bed well cushioned took up half of the space as a reasonable sized desk sat next to a large weapons rack. A few other weapons were hung throughout the room but the only other things to note were the soft rug at the foot of the bed and the sound of running water coming from behind a curtained hallway.

“Did you enjoy the battle?” The God Tamer closed the door and walked towards the Child. She leaned down towards them with a fondness on her face and the Child notice how Quirrel seemed to be taken back by her gentleness. The Child nodded their head rather enthusiastically as a reply, jerking Quirrel's hand a little with the motion.

“That's good, this was one of the better fights. Talo, his name, will be one to remember.” She pulled back and stepped over to her weapons rack. The Chlid then noticed that the great sword her opponent had used now rested among them, clean too.

“You keep their weapons?”

“As remembrance,” she replied rather harshly to Quirrel's question, a hard look in her eyes. “They challenged me with everything they had, the least I can do is honor their gear with care,” Her voiced died down, the Child had to stain somewhat to hear her as she ran a hand over a round shield. “and their memory by not forgetting.”

The Child felt Quirrel tense at her words. They weren't so out of touch with their Guardian to not know that certain words and place tended to remind Quirrel of one of his many memories, but the Child always hoped they wouldn't all be sad ones. Unfortunately, they almost always were.

As Quirrel began to retreat back into himself, the Child gave a sharp tug on his arm drawing his attention. Their Guardian looked down at them with wide eyes and a small flush seemed to gather on his face too as straighten out and took a deep breath.

“That's... rather kind of you.”

The God Tamer spun to look at him immediately, her mouth open with a sharp reply judging from her scowl but nothing came out. She instead stared at Quirrel's shaky attempt at a reassuring smile. She closed her mouth and really seemed to contemplate her next words.

She then quickly turned to the Child instead, “Would you like to see the weapons small one, I know how you love to experiment with them.”

The Child gave one nod of their head and moved over to the weapons rack without a moments pause. They flew up and grabbed onto the hilt of a large nail and somewhat frantically flapped their wings as they tried to carry both themselves and the large straight nail, but quickly losing their balance, proving the large nail to be too heavy from them. The God Tamer let out a snort as she quickly reached over to take the nail from their hands before they fell. Quirrel quickly came to the Child's side, in case his charge's wings were to give out and cause them to fall from the strain.

“Careful with that small one, I care for these weapons rather frequently so they can do much harm.”

The Child landed next to Quirrel and stroke their wings in an attempt to ease the strain and leaned towards their Guardian as they took a seat on the floor with Quirrel soon sitting down next to them.

“Would you then like me to demonstrate the proper use of this nail, perhaps?” She allowed a small smile to grow as the Child nodded their head with their whole body, clearly excited. “Ahah, well, this nail in particular is rather special, made by a talented blacksmith who lived at the edge of the Capital long before the rise of Queen Hornet. If you look carefully here at the hilt you can see his engraving...”

The Child eagerly leaned over to look at the sword as the God Tamer went into detail about the blade. The felt Quirrel relax soon enough and the Child was sure that their Guardian was no doubt surprised by the God Tamer's knowledge about the weapons she preserved and the depth she went to caring for them.

They knew that if there was one thing that Quirrel could recognize it was knowledge, regardless of whether he liked who possessed the knowledge or not.

Soon enough, their Guardian was even asking questions left and right and adding his own gathered knowledge of weaponry from Hallownest and beyond and the Child was pleased to see that even out of her element, the God Tamer was still able to command an energy worthy of a lead as she answered each question in turn.

The Child was glad that Quirrel had found some common ground with the God Tamer, even if he still hated the Colosseum itself.

\--

“What say you? Willing to spar, as a demonstration for the little one's sake?” She spoke with renewed energy and a light in her eyes that only the thought of battle could ever spark.

She wasn't blind, not by a long shot. Nor was she dumb or oblivious.

No, the God Tamer was a predator, a hunter, a stalker.

She knew talent when she saw it and she knew skill when it begrudgingly trudged through the Colosseum.

The bug before her was not doubt more of practiced skill then raw talent, not made for the act of battle was his harden shell only protected his body, but he walked with purpose and an assurance that only came from knowing ones abilities and the lack of ability in those around him.

He thought he was untouchable to them all, to her even, but she'll prove him wrong 

“I'm afraid, I'll have to decline.”

There was a pause as he picked up his charge, the small bug sleeping soundly into his chest. Such a tiny thing, yet so much talent and potential. She couldn't wait to pick the small thing apart in a proper arena match.

But good things to those who wait, as they say.

“You see, I don't quite enjoy fighting,” Another pause, now hesitant. He suspects perhaps? Not it would matter really. “... In general, really.”

“Oh, what a shame. Perhaps another time.”

“I doubt it.” He paused again, so cautious this one, she knew how she could began to pull him apart.

He gave a small bow and a muttered farewell, eyes never leaving her own.

Good. He should be wary. She find that she likes him more and more.

As he finally turned to leave, the God Tamer couldn't help but look at him with predatory eyes, a dangerous smirk slowly forming.

Truly, she finally found someone worthy of the Colosseum's arena.

**Author's Note:**

> She says that she keeps the weapons to remember the fighters worth remembering, and that is true, but they are also trophies she pretty much collects from defeated conquests.
> 
> That is Tiso's shield.


End file.
